twinkle twinkle button bat

I'm alive still but things are so busy here with a week till we fly to Seattle and I have had parcels to wrap, crafts to make, all manner of birthday prep for H, the collecting of gift items for my parents, and for the two parcels I will send to Selena and Jaci when I get to Idaho (much cheaper than posting from here), we have all had colds and Matt is still busy with weddings and all manner of studio based jobs. Its enough to make your head spin, I'm not used to running around like a headless chicken every single day... well maybe not that bad but it does seem like were are ridiculously busy the last month or so.

I can't wait to get to Idaho and not do much other than drink lots of coffee, play with the pack of pugs, eat my dads wonderful cooking and shuffle round the holy trinity of Target, Barns & Nobles and Old Navy ... with a few other shops in there too... honestly I'm not a shopaholic... I normally despise shopping except for book and craft shops but I love shopping in the states and looking at all the things you cant get here... and hauling back as much as our suitcases will hold.

Today I parceled off three packages one to a friend who forgot things at mine, one packages of Halloween swap goodies, and an order for Lillian the doll (with a few goodies pack inside as the buyer is a lovely twitter friend.) I baked cheddar muffins...and cheddar and marmite ones too.. and I have just coffee stained a stack of note cards to make more story notes and the pictured little button bat. I'm so pleased with how the button bat turned out that this one is the 3rd I have made since yesterday

Right its getting late and the jacket/baked potatoes must be done by now...I'm starving.

Spider Jar

spiders caught in a jar

a Mini Halloween Tutorial

ingredients:

1x medium jar

a small amount of fake spider webbing

2x plastic spiders

instructions:

*Turn the jar upside down and place the webbing so that it goes up half the jar.

*Place your spiders on the webbing and then screw the lid back on the jar. You can add a small stick or some autumn leaves to make the jar more effective.

a super simple little project that kids of any age will love to do.. it costs pennies to make and recycles a jar. Harrison took great glee in showing the jar to Matt when he got home.

Creepy Chocolate Covered Oreos

Last night we made spooky chocolate covered Oreo cookies in a chocolate/cookie mold that Jaci sent us last year and there was never a chance to play with it. It was so much fun, Harrison was practically flying about the room before he ate any cookies or chocolate! I'm going to buy some more dark chocolate and some white chocolate today so we can make some more after school tomorrow.

Shop Update

I will be closing my etsy shop down on October 15th as we will be going to visit my parents in the States. So if there is a doll you are wanting please order him or her now so I can get it parcelled up and in the post to you.

I don't know when I will be re-opening the shop again...presumably when we get home again but one can never tell. Thank you so much to everyone who has bought a doll or just commented on them... it has meant the world to me.

Hello October

Its October and I am so bouncy happy despite the rain pouring down from the black clouds swirling overhead all day. Its October and that mean apples, and pumpkins, Harrison's birthday and Halloween... and a trip to visit my parents in Idaho at the end of the month!

I am so bouncy and excited, its already the third and I have so much that needs doing before we can fly away and be delighted by all the lovely autumnal things rural Idaho has to offer. September was an awful month and I'm so glad to see the end of it and the beginning of October. It really is my favourite month of the year, I hate winter but Autumn with all the falling leaves and harvest-y things makes me so ridiculously happy (you know till I stress out about the packing and collecting of gifts and the fact that really I am an awful traveller because I cant sleep on planes, and god I hope that Harrison will sleep.

To celebrate the beginning of October we had a little trip up to York, where we bought way too much bread, nibbled on too much cake, oggled things we could not afford, and got thoroughly soaked in the rain.

choosing cakes

We had fun though, and that's the main thing... well that and the fact that I bought a book and some fabric and was inspired to doodle some crafty ideas in my journal for secretive things.

drinking coffee

So hello October I'm so glad you are back, and now I think I best go put the cobwebs up.

getting rained on

oh and um sorry about the pictures... I have been having way too much fun with apps on my iPhone.

halloween pegs tutorial

halloween pegs

Ingredients:
wooden clothes pegs (or the mini craft pegs)
twine
acrylic paint (orange and black)
water
paintbrushes
vintage buttons
glue

directions:
1. put a dab of paint onto a small plate and add a little water to it.

2. paint the pegs with the watery paint so that the paint soaks into the wood of the pegs.

3. let the pegs dry (you may need to wipe them down with a cloth or tissue to get a more rustic effect.

4. dab glue onto the back of a vintage button and glue it to your peg.

5. clip your pegs to the twine or anywhere you please. Or give them away as a little gift.


cook's note: its a simple project, a fun thing for kids to help do, great for holding cards, decorations or scraps of fabric. I have misplaces the craft magnets I bought ages ago but if I do find them I plan to stick them to the back of one of the pegs to make a magnetic clip.

Mr Northman

no not this Mr. Northman

Mr. Northman isn't for sale I'm afraid ladies... he was made for the exceedingly fantastic Amanda of Kitschy Coo infamy. She blogged about him when he arrived but I am a dunce and forgot to blog about him. So here is is Mr. Northman in all his vampiric glory... the button-y blue eyes, the fangs, the swept back blonde locks... this Vampire has everything.

this one!

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about you must go watch TrueBlood and read the Sookie Stackhouse novels...they are trashy Bit Lit at its best. And please visit Amanda's blog post as its far witter and funnier than mine. As I have bags to pack for a trip to York and I haven't had my lunch yet! eeep!

GO HERE NOW

Mr. Melvin Bone

Meet Mr. Melvin Bone. He was made from a witch's spell that went astray... he was meant to be a servant of the bone but something went wrong and Melvin isn't really of much use. He is crass, disruptive, lazy, deviant, downright vile in the morning....

.... he drinks far too much coffee...

in a bookshop in Hay-on-Wye

.....and likes to read books and watch movies that scare the bejeezus out of him and keep him up all night worrying about monsters and aliens... for some reason it has never occurred to him that he is a monster himself. Halloween is the only holiday he celebrates, with chocolate and candy and horrid movies that keep him up all night....movies that he makes you stay up to watch with him.

Here is me sewing him caffe Nero in Derby

he is listed in my etsy shop here

candy corn stamp and jam jar tealights

Probably the Worst Candy Corn

Rubber Stamp in the World TM

I sat down last night and doodled a little candy corn and set to work carving an eraser into a stamp. Its not brilliant but it was fun to do an I think I will have another go at stamp carving later today. I found the eraser much easier to carve than previous fights with lino tiles, resulting in plaster/band-aid covered fingers.

This morning's crafting was making tea-light holders from various jars and scraps of vintage book paper and music sheets. I made some DIY Mod Podge glue (which is white craft glue mixed with a few spoons of warm water).

I'm off to play with my copy of Wreck This Journal .. I'm going to be brave and crack the spine... I may have to cry, as to me that's one of the worst things you can ever do to a book ... *ignores the various book paper related crafts i have made from damaged books*... ;o)

Craft Challenge: Rubber Stamp Carving?

a lino cut coffee cup in a coffee tumbler...
yeah I know what can I say we are coffee geeks

Vintage Violet and I were talking yesterday about printing after she took a one day printing class that wasn't her cup of tea/coffee/cider/buttons... I have done a bit of lino cutting before in High School and a few months back, and thought she should give that a go. But then I remembered that lino is tough to cut and I had heard that rubber stamps/eraser stamps are easier to cut. Cue me saying we should have a craft challenge and try to do a small stamp by the end of next week.

Is anyone else up for challenging themselves to carve their own rubber stamp?

Here are some tutorial links I have scavanged from the depths of a 5 minute google search ... and begged off of everyone I know... and I will probably annoy any stamp makers I have vaguely chatted to on flickr, etsy, or twitter.


Tutorial Links

Craft Pudding - has a fab post about tutorials and books.. I may have to order one...or two *hopes Matt isn't listening..or reading this for that matter*

Carve Your Own Rubber Stamp Tutorial by Alma Stoller - looks very nice

Two Cheese Please

Mushroommeadows (lessons 1 and 2 but I cant see a third one.. still very cute and simple)

Carina's Craftblog (5 step tutorial posts with lots of pictures)

Milliande (lots of videos to watch of carving techniques)

Looks like fun doesn't it?

Is anyone else up for challenging themselves to carve their own rubber stamp?

I think I will go look at some more stamp carving books now.

the post where I am a super steathy ninja...

vintage key and button pendant

So today I told myself I would do something crafty, creative, magical, and inspiring...

so I drank coffee...

and I drank some more coffee... and I pondered and then I glared at my desk...and the buttons and fabric heaped upon it... I look at my stamps and then I got down the vintage jar I had that contained some mixed haberdashery items from Vintage Violet. I dug through until I found a small rusty key and a few mother of pearl buttons. So I dragged out my jewellery making kit and went to work, it didn't take long to create this little key and button pendant but I have happily worn it around the house. I was wondering about getting a bit of black velvet ribbon to hang it on instead of the silver chain (I may have a look in the little knitting shop in town tomorrow.

fantastical things from Rowan

...but then it was time to go for a little walk before going to collect Harrison from school. As I was getting my shoes on (black converse) the werewolf postie brought me a parcel. What? He is totally a werewolf, I have gone on about this before, he is awesome, and so far he doesn't bite and I don't know if he has fleas or not....

Where was I? Oh yes he bought me a lovely parcel of goodies from Rowan who I sent some thrifted manga and a book page illustration (which sounds more posh than doodle) and a little typed note card. Well Rowan sent me the sweetest little manga pendant, brooches, a refresher sweet that the boy later stole, and a cute little ring.

I wore the blue and orange cameo brooch on my walk to school to fetch the Boy. I talked to my friend's mum (picking up the grand kids) and one other mum (who is lovely).

...I displayed my mad ninja skills of not being seen by the rest of the parents there. I do know a few mums that are quite nice and friendly but I'm too shy to be chatty with the others, so I wait quietly for Harrison to be let out and tell me about his day...

...telling me about his day consists of him saying they had mashed potatoes at lunch and not remembering anything else that happened all day. Ninja skills discarded as we negotiated what sort of treat he should get for the epic task of walking home. So I sighed and took hold of the seventy billion things he was bringing home and off we went to practice super stealthy ninja skills another day.

The Owl Girl

*****SOLD*****

The Owl Girl

In day she hides behind the fragile mask of humanity, thick glasses perched on a small nose, dark hair in wild disarray. Eyes on the ground, a quick step and an arm full of books to keep others away.

When the moon rises round and fat, the night creatures sing and Athene sheds the pale mask of humanity and slips from her human skin. Shining feathers burst from pale flesh. She flies screeching into the night, free to hunt and wishing the dawn will never come.

The world turns and night spills across the sky, strings of glittering jewels, necklaces of suns and worlds scattered across unending black.

The sun crests the horizon, golden rays falling on golden eyes and black and white feathers. Athene fights again the change, the slip back into human form. Feathers fly on the wind as her wing shifts to a human arm, bones twisting, breaking.

Fat tears roll down feathery cheeks, but the pain is too much to fight for one small masked owl and she lets her night shape slip away. Bones and feathers and cries of pain and a small dark haired girl is all that remains.

She crawls to the hallow she hid her clothes, dressing quickly in the cool dawn light. Wiping tears from her cold cheeks she slips her glasses on.

lillalotta fabric tapes

old book cotton tape

The lovely Anna of lillalotta blog will be closing down her fabric tape shop in two weeks time so run to her shop and order some beautiful tapes before they are all gone.

'little red' cotton tape

I have just ordered some of the 'old book' tape and the 'little red' tape and have ordered the book tape and some Alice in Wonderland 'Drink Me' tape that I have used to make some of my little monster dolls.

'Alice Wonderful' cotton tape

....run to her etsy shop now

Cheddar and Ham Muffin Recipe

Cheddar and Ham Muffins

Ingredients:
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• ¼ cup finely grated parmesan cheese
• 2 cups plain flour
• ½ cup melted butter
• 1 cup crème fraiche *
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• Black Pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup ham, chopped fine
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

Directions:
Mix dry ingredients together.

Add crème fraiche, butter, eggs and mix.

Add the grated cheese and chopped ham.

Mix well and spoon into muffin pans 1/2 full.

Bake in preheated 400F (180C) oven 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

*Alternatively use plain yogurt or sour cream or ¾ cup milk.

Cook’s note: there are a number of different recipes for ham and cheese muffins out there, I read quite a few then winged it to create this recipe, they turned out great but I will probably tinker with the recipe a bit more the next time I make them, perhaps adding bacon instead of ham, or including some sautéed onion for a richer flavour. My taste testers Matt and Harrison loved it, oh and so did Frizbe too! I used the crème fraiche because that’s what I had on hand that needed using up, I also used thinly sliced sandwich style ham for the same reason though a thicker cut would probably work better.

Ursela the Vampiress

Ursela didn't want to be a vampire, she didn't want to be or do anything but read her beloved books. But then she learned the most marvelous magical thing...well the most magical things if you are an immortal wallflower...Vampires dont need to sleep...EVER. Ursela could spend her immortal afterlife roaming bookshops and late night cafes, reading book after book and nibbling on the shoppers and coffee drinkers. She never missed the sun for she never saw it to begin with.

Ursela was sewn for my frien Marina's birthday on Tuesday. Harrison helped me to pick out the fabrics and vintage buttons to use, and he helped stuff Ursela with toy filling. I think she is one of my favourite dolls and I may have to make another similar in style as I love how her mouth turned out with a wide grin and little fangs. So if you love her too, drop me a comment and I will see what I can do to make another little vampire doll.

typed on a note card that had been coffee stained

a little pumpkin

a little bit of inspirational crafting... or that's what I thought I was doing anyway. Tis a little decorative pumpkin/pincushion made from some orange fabric and a vintage doily. Oh and a little piece of a stick Harrison gave me. I wasn't sure I liked it at first, but I think its growing on me now. In fact I might have a go at making one or two more once I have been to the shop to get some more toy filling. I'm posting this photo today because today feels very much like a crisp autumn day and not so much late August, so what better to blog on an Autumnal feeling day than an Autumn inspired fabric pumpkin.

bookish craft swap sent and received

Things I recieved from Kirsty in the Bookish Craft swap

Appologies in advance for my stupendously bad photography, but H did help me and the past few weeks have been non stop! I recieved some lovely purple fabric (that might become a doll), a green and blacks espresso chocolate bar (which is now gone), a beautiful framed photograph of a page of Kirsty's favourite Poppy Z. Brite book (which I will hang up when I paint the bedroom...eventually), a teastained copy of a Scottish poem, red buttons, and two books!
The Midwich Cuckoos

John Wyndham

John Wyndham (Author)

› Visit Amazon's John Wyndham Page

Find all the books, read about the author, and more.

See search results for this author

Are you an Author? Learn about Author Central

The books were The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham (aka the book they made into the film Village of the Damned)



Blood Read: The Vampire as Metaphor in Contemporary Culture

Brian Aldiss (Author), Joan Gordon (Author), Veronica Hollinger (Author)

I have flipped through it and found quotes from some of my favourite vampire movies and books so I'm sure it will make a facinating read.

things I sent Kirsty

A werewolfy book (Ivy Cole and the Moon by Gina Farago which looks to be collectable or something, as its showing up at a rediculous price on Amazon very odd) and a trashy witchy book by Cheynne McCray.... I made a bookmark with soem lillalotta book tape, black and red fabrics, a little needle book made from Cath Kidston fabric, a collage art doodle of a flapper girl on vintage book page, an onyx bracelet, and some fabric and buttons.

I really enjoyed this swap and can't wait to think up an idea or two for the next one...possibly a quirky film inspired swap as I was chatting on twitter the other day with the amazingly talented Monica of Happy Zombie about the amazing films Amelie and Waitress and other such quirky flicks. We daydreamed of doing a swap with a little gnome to pass along in a chain along with crafty goodies and to post a photo/postcard back to the original gnome maker. Monica thought I should design and sew a little gnome... which sent me loopy as I'm not sure my crafting is anywhere remotely near her level but she is fantastically awesome so I may listen to her and give it a go. Two weeks till school starts again and I will be able to think and craft without a certain helpful little boy being HELPFUL. hmmm I'll keep thinking about it and do some doodles in my journal/notebook.

giveaway winner

so sorry for the lateness of this post but its been mad, mad, mad around here!

the winner is:

' ClaireP said...

Hmmm. I think I'd maybe treat myslef to a new pie dish, or just get a pretty cake stand!

congrats Claire... I will email you and CSN to send you the £30 voucher!

thank you everyone who commented!

the sky rained stories

...the sky rained stories...

raindrops filled with
words.
Each Cloud a book, every storm
a library

a little card I made for the Bookish craft swap, with vintage book paper and typed on the little typewriter. The words are just something that popped into my head. I will blog about the swap later (it was awesome), but right now I'm going to work on crafting something new as today H is at Holiday Club and I have the house to myself so I feel the need to create something.

I'm off to be crafty and I hope you are too.

CSN Review and Giveaway

email from A few weeks ago I recieved an email from CSN Promo Team enquiring if I would like to review one of their shops or do a giveaway on my blog for a voucher for anything from Ceiling Lights to Cookware. I looked at the CSN sites...mostly the cookware because more than anything else I like to potter about in the kitchen, and I emailed them back saying I would like to do a review and a giveaway for my readers.They sent me a voucher code and I toddled off to the cookware site to find something to make my little baker's heart happy. I looked through everything twice before ordering a KitchenCraft Cake Biscuit/Icing set. The website was easy enough to navigate and order from. My order was to be 5 working days to ship but it arrived in three. I tore into the parcel and oggled the new icing gun with glee.


I baked cupcakes and mixed a great vat of icing which I split into two portions adding fresh raspberries to one, and chocolate to the other. The icing gun took a bit of practice to get the icing looking nice but it was great fun to play with and I shall be baking some cookies with it in the near future. I may use the site again in the future (I quite fancy one of those creme brulee torches), as the service was good and they emailed you updates at each stage of your order being processed.



Now for the good part...

the promo team said I could giveaway a voucher for £30 for the CSN sites to one of my blog readers. I used the to order my icing gun set from by you can use the £30 voucher code at any CSN site.

Have a look at what they have to offer and leave me a comment of what you would spend the £30 on, leave me your email and I will have the voucher code emailed to you!

good luck... a name will be drawn at random on Monday the 23 of August.